


Vor Needs Women

by Isis



Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-07
Updated: 2011-02-07
Packaged: 2017-10-15 11:56:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/160587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isis/pseuds/Isis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Byerly's changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vor Needs Women

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for A Civil Campaign. Prompt: experiment.

Ivan nearly closed the door again when he saw that it was Byerly Vorrutyer who had rung the chime at the entrance to his apartment. Nothing good ever came of his conversations with By. At least when Miles dragooned him into something he stood a chance of getting decently fed by Ma Kosti, and maybe a couple of glasses of good wine.

"So good of you to see me," said By as he slipped past Ivan and into the apartment.

"You should have called first," grumbled Ivan.

"Then you wouldn't have seen me," said By brightly. "Got something to drink?"

As usual, By was wearing something outlandish. His usual town-clown getup, Ivan thought as he headed into the kitchen to get a couple of bottles of beer, but that long and oddly-cut canary-yellow coat was like nothing he'd seen before in Vorbarr Sultana.

"Interesting outfit," he said as he handed By a beer. "You look positively galactic. Where did you pick that up?"

"Got it in one." By smiled. "You didn't know I'd been off-planet?"

"No wonder things were so pleasantly quiet."

By raised an eyebrow. "I didn't realize you'd missed me so much."

Ivan sighed and sunk down into the one comfortable chair in his living room. He jerked his head toward the sofa, and By settled his long form on it, crossing his legs out in front of him and taking a long draught from the bottle. And looking at him with the ironic amusement that seemed to be permanently etched on By's face. Taking his time to bring up his business. Finally, Ivan gave in. "So, what is it?"

"I bought it on Beta Colony." By smoothed the stiff, wide lapels which extended almost to his waist. "You can get so many interesting things on Beta," he continued, blandly.

"Oh, God," Ivan groaned. "I still have flashbacks to that scene at the shuttleport. You set me up."

"I did. You should have seen your face."

"I was expecting Lady Donna! Not Lord Dono!" He shook his head. "I still can't believe those magnificent breasts are gone for good."

"Funny you should say that."

Ivan opened his mouth, but no words came out. He felt a weird sort of flip-flop sensation in his gut, like he'd eaten something that was about to violently disagree with him. Like he'd been hit by a stunner. Byerly continued looking at him with that faint half-smile.

Finally Ivan managed to get his tongue under control. "You didn't."

In answer, By reached to unfasten the clasp at his neck and slide a hand down the front of his yellow Betan coat, opening it, revealing –

They weren't as large as Lady Donna's had been, Ivan noted, but still, not bad.

He supposed By's other clothes were Betan as well; a clinging sky-blue blouse that molded to the new breasts, its plunging neckline testifying to the authenticity of the cleavage, and loose trousers in a darker blue, similar to those worn by Komarran women. The effect on By's tall and lean body was disconcerting. By didn't look feminine, exactly, but he'd never looked particularly masculine, either. And his voice had always been a bit high, that light and pleasant tenor. Unlike Lord Dono, whom Ivan had taken for a stranger at that shuttleport meeting, By – at least in that figure-concealing overcoat – still looked mostly like he always had. No, not he, thought Ivan. She. Oh, God.

Now he looked again at By's face. There were changes, he could see, now that he was looking for them. The jawline had softened, and there was no trace of the stubble that gave By a seedy look when he'd been out, as was his usual habit, until dawn. His - her dark hair had grown out a bit. In fact, Ivan realized, By now had a strong resemblance to Lady-Donna-that-was, which was really not all that surprising, since they were cousins. But it was a very weird feeling indeed to find Byerly Vorrutyer…attractive.

He said the first thing he could think of. "Did you change your name?" What would Byerly choose – Bella? Byra?

She shook her head. "I think 'Byerly' is suitably neutral, at least for the moment."

"For the moment?"

"I've not yet decided – what I'm going to do with myself. How this will affect my work, and so on."

Ivan barked a short laugh. "Isn't that something you should have considered before you…" He waved his hand in By's direction, unable to bring himself to actually voice the words. Suddenly a thought struck him. He was one of the few people who knew that By's work was not just lounging around in taverns, that he was a counterintelligence agent, secretly reporting on the political implications of the Vor social scene. And his contact…."Oh my God. Did you tell her yet?"

By shook her head.

"Oh, no. No. You are not asking _me_ to tell her." Lady Alys Vorpatril might be By's contact in Imperial Security, but she was Ivan's _mother_. That was worse.

"I hadn't thought of that," said By cheerfully. "It would be helpful, though."

"No," repeated Ivan. He narrowed his eyes. "There seems to be a lot you hadn't thought of."

By shrugged airily. "I just thought I'd experiment."

Only By would consider going to another planet and having body-modification surgery an _experiment_. Ivan took another swig from his bottle. "So if you're not here to ask me to intercede with my mother, why did you come to see me?"

The grin was pure Byerly. She finished her beer and rose, letting the yellow coat slip to the floor, took the two steps to where Ivan sat and slid down into his lap. "I just thought," she said, her voice dropping to a low, husky growl, "I'd experiment."

Ivan swallowed. "On me."

By answered with her lips, which were – had By's lips always been like this? Soft, sweet, mobile? Her tongue teased at Ivan's as her hands slid around his neck. Her newly-acquired breasts crushed against Ivan's chest very nicely. Suddenly he had an urge to investigate them more closely. Wrapping both arms around By, he stood, lifting her off the ground, and strode back to the couch and deposited her on it, and himself on her.

"Oh," said By.

"It's an experiment," Ivan assured her. He eased a hand under her blouse – oh, nice. She smiled and stretched catlike under him, her eyes fluttering closed for a moment, then opening again.

"It comes off," she said. And so it did. If the surgery had left scars, they were invisible. He cupped each breast in his palms in turn, kissed the dark pink nipples until they hardened. By wriggled and sighed. Her hands slid under Ivan's shirt, down to the waistband of his trousers, which she unfastened deftly. No surprise; until recently she'd been accustomed to wearing them.

His prick, which had already become interested in the proceedings, sprung free into her hands. "Not bad," she said. "I'd always wondered."

Ivan found himself turning slightly red. "You wondered? Before?"

"Oh, yes. But I knew you wouldn't be interested in me – before. And no, I didn't do this for _you_ , so you can relax," she added.

Not that Ivan could have possibly relaxed with his intimate parts firmly in By's grasp. "That's just too weird," he muttered.

"Come, now. We Vorrutyers have always been…open-minded. Or did you think that Lord Dono's marriage to Olivia Koudelka is simply a ploy to get an heir?"

Ivan screwed his eyes shut. "Don't tell me, I don't want to – ahh!" By had begun stroking him, and of course By knew exactly what kind of grip felt good. He buried his face in By's breasts again, braced against the back of the couch so she could touch him. Maybe this was some sort of cosmic balance, Byerly for Lady Donna. The law of conservation of Vor women. He had to admit it made sense, in a strange sort of way. There weren't enough Vor women as it was. And, at the moment, with his mouth on By's pale, smooth skin and her skilled hand on his prick, he was not disposed to object.

Finally he moved one hand down from those lovely, lovely breasts, skimming By's torso to her hip. Yes, By had hips now, he was pleased to note; he dipped his hand between the waistband of those loose trousers and her skin, around her body until the surface of the couch stopped him, and was delighted to discover she had also acquired a nicely rounded bottom. Not like Lady Donna's, alas, but it would definitely do.

And what it would definitely do….Ivan groaned as By deftly pulled and twisted at the same time. Oh, yes. He gave that fine derriere another squeeze. Time to get serious. He slid his hand back up to her hip for another caress, then casually let his fingertips slip around under the trousers toward her front – and froze.

"Oh, dear," said By.

Ivan's hand stayed under By's trousers just long enough to verify that it was on…By's _prick_. Then he snatched it back out as though he'd been scalded.

"Oh, don't stop _now_ , Ivan." Her – oh, God, not her, him, it – _Byerly's_ eyes were dancing with amusement.

"You, this…gah! I thought you were a _woman_!" He pointed accusingly at Byerly's breasts.

"Betans have three genders, you know." By was positively smirking.

"I know! I just didn't want to…to _know_! Gah!" Ivan rolled off the couch and hastily did up his own trousers. By didn't move.

"Come on, Ivan. I've got all the right parts. We can still do it."

"You've got _too many_ parts! Whatever possessed you?"

By looked down toward the relevant parts. "I supposed I didn't feel quite ready to give it up. It struck me as the perfect way to experience sex from a woman's perspective, without losing…well. I do like being able to write my name in the snow."

Ivan sighed. "By, this is Barrayar. Not Beta. Once they get a clue about what's under that coat, nobody's going to give you the chance to experience sex from _any_ perspective!" He clutched his head. "And speaking of that coat, could you please put it back on? Your breasts are taunting me."

"They are superb, aren't they?"

"Coat," said Ivan firmly, and By pouted but finished getting dressed. "And get out of here."

"You're no fun," said By. "You get me all excited and then kick me out."

Ivan opened the door. "Hey, I know what you can do," he said brightly. As though he'd just figured it out. By stepped outside and looked back at him inquiringly.

At least something good would come of this horrible evening. "Now that you can," he said, the corners of his mouth curling in a smile – oh, he had wanted to say this for such a long time – "By? Go fuck yourself." Laughing, he closed the door.


End file.
